Flötezart

"The title is whimsical, but appropriate, I think, for the ballet is to Mozart flute music. Some scholars claim Mozart hated the flute. I can't believe that: he wrote such wonderful music for it. The ballet is basically classical, but also humorous in a way. I like to think of it as Mozart with a twist." — Bart Cook

Bart Cook began his ballet training in his hometown of Ogden, Utah, and by age 17 was performing as an apprentice with Ballet West. In 1970 Mr. Cook entered the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, and shortly thereafter joined the Company. He became a Soloist in 1976 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1979. Mr. Cook has choreographed a number of works, both for New York City Ballet and other companies.
 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), an Austrian, was one of the supreme musical geniuses of all time. He excelled in all forms of music, including opera, symphonies, concerti for various instruments, and chamber, vocal, piano and choral music, leaving a legacy that is one of the greatest achievements in music. Mozart was considered by many to be the finest pianist, organist, and conductor in Europe. He was a famous child prodigy, and possessed a natural facility for music that is unsurpassed in the history of the art. In 1777, seeing no future as concertmaster in Salzburg, Mozart and his mother started on a tour of Germany and France to seek a position equal to his genius. They arrived in Mannheim on October 30 and stayed until March 1778. While there, Mozart wrote flute concertos for a Dutchman named "de Jean" (possibly Dejong). Each of these pieces was written for a solo flute with oboe, horn, and string accompaniment. The second of the two concertos, K. 314, is probably an arrangement of an earlier oboe concerto. K. 315, the Andante in C Major, may have been intended as a simpler slow movement for K. 314, rather than as part of a third concerto. Mozart told his father that he disliked the flute; but the writing of these concertos is too professional and idiomatic to betray anything of the kind.